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Laura Lucas Magnuson is the Executive Vice President for Global Programs at the Obama Foundation. Prior to joining the Foundation in May 2021, she served as the Vice President for Communications and Strategy at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Previously, Laura was Communications Director for the Obama Foundation. Laura also led communications and public relations for the global law firm Morgan Lewis and media relations for the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

Laura was a Foreign Service Officer focusing on public diplomacy at the US State Department for more than a decade, serving at the U.S. embassies in Nepal and the Czech Republic and in the office of NATO affairs. She served as the spokesperson for the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan and the press unit chief for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs. Laura also worked as a travel advance officer and Special Assistant to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

From 2013 to 2014, Laura served as a White House spokesperson and Director of Strategic Communications at the National Security Council, responsible for communications related to Europe and Russia, NATO, South and Central Asia, cybersecurity, and international economic policy.

Laura holds an Executive MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and a BA from the University of Oregon. She serves as a member of the Research Advisory Council for the Partnership for Public Service.